More nesting photos

New curtains in the master bedroom. 

I'm continuing to feather my little nest over here, and enjoying it immensely. I recently hung curtains in the lounge, dining room and master bedroom. There's just one window to go in the house and then the window furnishings will be done. I'm trying to get it all sorted before winter, but window furnishings are surprisingly expensive so I've been doing it bit by bit as we can afford it.

The curtains I chose throughout are turquoise in a linen weave from Spotlight. I love the colour (it's a very Emma colour), the texture, the drapiness, the amount they black-out the windows and the fact they are washable. And I got them on special, so that always helps.

I thought a plain, textured curtain would be better than a patterned one, since patterns go in and out of style so quickly, whereas a linen texture is timeless and easy to accessorise.

I chose silver curtain rods to go with them, because I think turquoise and silver is a classic combination, plus I wear silver jewelry so again, it's a very Emma look.

The master bedroom didn't technically need curtains, since it already had roller blinds, but the road noises were disturbing my sleep, so I thought it would help to have an extra layer between me and the road. I don't know how much it reduces noise, maybe a little, but psychologically it helps because I slept through the night the very first night the curtains were installed.

I'm particularly proud that I hung all the curtain rods myself, especially since the dining room one was too long so I had to hacksaw it first.

Dining room window.

I chose curtains rather than blinds for this dining room window, because we eventually want to replace it with French doors. The other dining room window will get white wooden venetian blinds to match the blinds in the lounge and to conserve wall space.

Another angle of the new dining room curtains.

I realise none of these photos really show you the true colour. That's the downside of using my phone as my camera!

New curtains over the lounge ranch slider.

The other change I've been making around the house is to add little shelves to the walls in the kids' rooms. I'm really getting into the idea of maximising vertical space, since our house is so small.

Baby J got a cloud shelf next to the Lego table. I thought it could be a cool place for the kids to display their Lego creations, so I hung it nice and low and accessible.

Cloud shelf for the Lego table. 

L got a cloud shelf at the end of her bed for toys, plus a set of three cube boxes in various sizes to hold her tissues, books, toys and drawing things. She was the one I most wanted to get shelves for, since she's on a top bunk and previously didn't have anywhere to put things other than directly on her bed. She loves having her books close to hand, and I love seeing her tucked up in bed reading to herself.

L's bed and her new storage on the wall. 

S got a pink and white hexagonal shelf above her side table. She is the master of displaying nicknacks around the house, constantly rearranging our photos and candles. I thought she would enjoy having her own little display area, and I was right.

I bought the cloud shelves and the hexagonal shelf from Kmart. L's set of three cubes came from Bunnings.

There you have it - just some of the fun (and practical) changes I've been making around the place.

I've also been working on energy-saving solutions for drying my washing, so I'll share those with you next time.